


Just The Way I'm Supposed To Be

by YouAreMyHappilyEverAfter



Series: Here I Am And I Stand So Tall [4]
Category: Sofia the First (Cartoon), Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Aged Down Cedric, Aged Up Amber, Aged Up James, Aged Up Sofia, Empath Steven Universe, F/M, Found Family, Portals, Post-Steven Universe Future, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Realm Hopping, Sofia the First AU, Steven is a Prince technically
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-18 15:47:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28620555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YouAreMyHappilyEverAfter/pseuds/YouAreMyHappilyEverAfter
Summary: When a portal rips itself open while Steven's on a nature hike, he isn't quite sure what to expect. He knows for a fact that he doesn't expect to be dropped in front of a castle, with a princess and a sorcerer finding him and telling him he's a prince. But this roadtrip's already so dang weird, this may as well happen.
Relationships: Cedric the Sorcerer/Sofia the First, Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe
Series: Here I Am And I Stand So Tall [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1767889
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	Just The Way I'm Supposed To Be

**Author's Note:**

> Steven is on a road trip finding other kids and teens like him across the world, and a few different universes in this series. Each piece can be read as a standalone, but should be read as part of the series in the bigger picture. ~Kas

Okay, so. Steven didn’t want to say he was lost in the woods, but… he was lost in the woods. He could never let anyone know. He’d never live it down. Steven finally looked around, cupping his hands around his mouth. “Any weird phenomena, now is the time to make yourself known! Submit to the terrifying ordeal!”

There was nothing but background sounds of the forest, Steven a little surprised because really? That was it? No weird- And there was a portal. Of course. Of course there was a portal. Steven sighed, looking around again. “Any  _ other _ weird phenomena that wants to make itself known?” A squirrel chirped at him from up in a tree, but apparently it was only a weird magical portal that wanted his attention today. With a huff, Steven raised his hands. “Alright, fine! My life is already so gosh dang weird, this may as well happen! Whatcha got for me, portal!” He said loudly, walking towards the portal. Alright. Welp. Here he went!

Stepping into the portal, Steven yelped as it felt like a sharp wind whisked him off his feet and tumbled him straight down through a tunnel of swirling, sparkling colors. There was a sound like laughter, but Steven couldn’t see anyone as he was swept away, the world - worlds? - passing him by. When Steven landed, he fell pretty rough to the ground. The  _ stone _ ground. That was fantastic. He looked up to see a portal fading from existence. “Well you could’ve given me a softer landing!”

There was no response, as expected, Steven grumbling and complaining to himself as he managed to push his way up to standing, looking around, and, okay. He definitely wasn’t in a forest anymore - at least not the one he had been in. He looked down at his- His jacket? What the fuck? Where did his jacket go? What was he  _ wearing? _ It looked like… Actually, it looked a lot like when Pearl and Volleyball had fused. But why was he wearing something like that?

Looking back around, Steven saw he was in front of a castle. Him, Steven Universe, was in front of a  _ castle. _ He didn’t think there were any castles like  _ this  _ where he had been traveling. He hoped his car wouldn’t be towed until he found a way back from  _ wherever he was. _ Steven brushed himself off, and huh. Well, he still had a pocket, even if it was weird. He grabbed out his… phone…?

What the fuck was this thing? This wasn’t his phone. “Where the heck is my phone?” The  _ mirror  _ he was holding showed swirling colors before showing an image of him holding the mirror and… mirror speaking to him.  _ Shit. _ “Is… there anyone stuck in this mirror-looking thing?” Please say no please say no please say no.

Nothing happened, the mirror going silent and still and good- Great! Okay. He was holding a non-possessed mirror. That was something. “Okay, uh… Mirror,” Steven started, looking around. “Where  _ am _ I?”

The castle that he was standing in front of appeared on the mirror. Nothing else. Just the castle. Because that was so helpful. “Great, yeah, okay, a castle, that doesn’t tell me jack-” For some reason, it felt like he shouldn’t curse. At all. That was… weird, and Steven did not appreciate that.

“Hello?” Oh. Okay. A person speaking- A… princess? Maybe? What the… heck? He felt like he should use heck there. “Are you alright? You look a little lost.”

“Uh… Yeah. Yeah, I’m definitely lost.” He looked around again, and the castle looked like it was at the top of a long winding road. Great. Okay. “Any chance you could tell me where I am?”

“Of course! You’re at the castle of King Roland here in Enchancia.” Uh huh. Enchancia. Right. “Do you need to speak with him, Prince…?”

Steven slowly nodded along. “En… chancia.” Right. Okay. “And… where is that, exactly?” The two, a girl and a guy who looked somewhere around his age, shared a  _ look.  _ That was bad.

“In the Ever Realm?” Right. Stated like that should be obvious. That was really bad.

“Realm. Okay. That’s- Wait, did you say Prince? No no no, I’m not…” Well, technically… “Technically, I mean, but not  _ really- _ ”

“Oh! You must be new.” Yeah, well, she could say that. He was kind of new to… the area. “I’m sorry. Here, what did you come here for and we can help you out from there.”

“Uh… I dunno. I was walking in the forest, and I saw a magic portal and it spit me out here.”

“A portal?” The guy asked, giving a nod. “I did hear about some portals acting up recently. What realm are you from? Or kingdom, if you’re close by.”

“I… don’t know. Realms? I’m- I’m not from some  _ kingdom _ or something.” A magic portal showed up in the forest and spit him out in a different  _ realm. _ Because  _ realms _ existed. That was- That was fantastic! First he found some creepy statue in a forest and people who lived in a place full of ‘The Weird,’ then he ran into a girl that could  _ rewind time with her mind, _ then there were people who  _ hunted _ people like him, and other weird stuff, and now he walked himself through a portal!

“Ah, a realm that doesn’t know about travel,” the guy muttered softly. “That could cause problems. Sofia, do your… friendly people reassuring thing.”

The girl — Sofia? — stepped forward, taking his hand, and… And Steven almost felt some kind of power from his gem, and she was so… It was like energy washing over him, clean and pure. “I’m Sofia, this is Cedric. You still haven’t told us your name.”

“I… Steven,” he said, staring at her. “My name is Steven.” Sofia smiled, squeezing his hand lightly. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Steven. Don’t worry, we’ll help you figure out how to get home, okay?”

Steven gave a wet laugh, “I think I can finally say this is the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to me. And that’s a really high bar.” 

“We tend to hear that a lot,” Sofia said softly, letting his hand go just as softly. “Why don’t we go sit down and you can tell us everything you want.”

“Alright.” Wow. She was… Steven wasn’t sure he had words, but  _ wow. _ She was really nice.

With the two leading the way, it wasn’t long before Steven was sitting at a table in a  _ tower,  _ Cedric pulling out books and Sofia sitting with him as he explained, “I’ve seen a person or two from other realms, as well, so you being surprised by everything isn’t that, well, surprising.”

“But… How can you figure out which realm I came from?” He was watching Cedric look through all the books, and… “Is that a magic wand?”

“It is,” Sofia giggled. “Do you not have wands where you come from?” That was a magic wand. Okay, then.

“We… don’t have  _ magic, _ I’m pretty sure. I mean, I’m half alien, my mom was from another planet, but that’s different.”

“Oh. Hm. Well, I can reliably say that I‘ve never dealt with things like other planets and… aliens? Cedric?”

Cedric paused from where he was levitating a dozen books with his  _ wand,  _ looking at Sofia and then making a face. It reminded Steven of when he had dealt with Bluebird. “Trust me. You don’t want to know.” ...Oh stars did they not even know what aliens were? Where the- The heck did he end up?

“Uh…” He was doomed and trapped and  _ doomed.  _ He would be stuck here forever with no way home and he had wanted a  _ break,  _ but not like  _ this. _

“Looks like we have a lot to cover,” Sofia said after a long moment. “Tea or hot chocolate?”

“Oh, uh, hot chocolate?” Yeah, wow, he liked her. She kinda reminded him of… Connie? Maybe. That was the closest he could get, at least. 

“I’ll be right back, then. Cedric! Be nice while I’m gone!”

“I’m always nice,” Cedric shouted back, waiting until the door was shut and Sofia was gone before he was turning to Steven with a small smile. “She’s far kinder and more cheerful than I am, but she’ll keep her word. We’ll get you home one way or another.”

“Thanks. Yeah, I can tell. You really care about her,” he said with a smile, watching Cedric fumble a bit. But even  _ without _ his superpowered empathy, it had been easy enough to tell.

“I- Well-” Cedric sighed, rubbing at the back of his neck. “I suppose I really do.”

Steven chuckled quietly, sitting back and looking around. “Princesses and princes and magic. Wow.”

“Not like that in your world, I take it?” Well, there was the Gem Empire, but other than that, yeah, no.

“I mean, there are princesses and princes on other planets, and other places on Earth, but not in my country,” he said with a shrug. “And magic… Well, I mean, that’s really complicated. I mean, we have supernatural stuff, and we have extraterrestrial stuff, but I don’t think I can say we have  _ magic. _ ”

“Interesting,” Cedric said, looking to be thinking about it as he carried another stack of books over to the table - how many books did one person need? “Well, it differs by Realm, of course. Ours is more focused on magic. Wave a wand, say a spell, get a result, so on and so on.”

“Huh,” he said quietly. Well, that was interesting, at least. “So, do you know how to narrow down what ‘Realm’ I’m from?” 

“I have a few ways to start, but… It will take time,” Cedric admitted. “We can help, but you’ll have to be patient.”

Steven took out his ‘phone,’ looking down at it again. “Aw, man, the Gems are gonna freak.”

“You could try contacting them through that,” Cedric nodded towards the mirror. “Magic mirrors are rather good at finding who you’re looking for. I’m supposing it wasn’t a magic mirror before, however?”

"Nope. And I wasn't wearing anything like this either before I came through that portal."

Their conversation didn't progress much before the door was opening, and Sofia was coming in with a tray of cups… and two more people? Sofia must have seen his look, rolling her eyes, “Steven, this is my sister Amber and my brother James. Guys, this is Steven. He’s… not from around here.”

“Uh… Hi there,” he said, giving them a small wave. Okay. That was… Okay. Yeah, he could totally deal with that. “Thanks,” he said quietly as Sofia handed him a cup. Just the smell alone really had him feeling homesick. He missed his dad. 

“Well hello, Prince Steven.” Oh, jeez. Amber gave him a curtsey and a bright smile. “My sister mentioned briefly that you were in need of help in getting home.”

“Uh… Yeah. I’m, uh… I wouldn’t really call myself much of a  _ prince. _ ” Although, technically, with the whole Gem Empire, he supposed he was? Jeez. Yellow could never find out about this. “And yeah, it’s… complicated.”

“Your crown says otherwise,” Amber laughed and- Hang on.  _ Crown? _ He didn’t have a crown. As far as  _ he  _ knew he didn’t have a crown. Setting his cup down gently, Steven lifted a hand to his head- A crown. He was wearing… A crown. Taking it off, he looked down at it, frowning. That… wasn’t normal. Wait a minute. Looking in the mirror again, Steven’s frown deepened and  _ what did that portal do to his hair?! _

Steven tangled his fingers in his slicked down hair, quickly mussing it and doing what was in his power to get it back how it was supposed to be. Sofia laughed, asking a quiet, “I take it your hair isn’t supposed to be like that?”

“No  _ way! _ I don’t even know how that happened!” Looking in the mirror again, he nodded. Much better. 

“Oh, that looks  _ much  _ better,” Amber said ‘to herself.’ It felt like her comment wasn’t all that quiet. Oh boy… Steven would just… pretend he didn’t hear that.

Picking up his cup again, he took a sip, and… Oh… “This is… good.”

“Do you like it? It’s my mom’s recipe! It always made me feel better when something went wrong.”

Oh man. “Ye- Yeah. It… It tastes like how my dad makes it.” He stared down at the cup. “I’ve been on one of those… journeys of self-exploration, or whatever. I haven’t been home in a couple months.” 

“You must really miss him, then, huh?” Sofia asked quietly, sitting back down beside him and giving him a gentle nudge. “As someone who’s been there? It’s okay to be upset when you leave home for the first time.”

“Yeah, but- But it’s good! It’s healthy, y’know? Spend time away, figure myself out, figure out my own limits and boundaries and stuff.” 

Sofia watched him a moment, giving him a soft smile. “I’m not sure what you’re looking for, but I hope you find it.”

He nodded as she set a hand on his back. “Yeah. Thanks. Me too.”

Cedric muttered something about there being ‘two of them,’ but he was already speaking before Steven could ask, “Alright, I don’t know much about Realm travel, but I know just enough to get us started. Once we find your Realm we can work on getting you back to your proper place and time.”

“Realm travel?” The brother — James — rose an eyebrow, looking Steven over. “You’re from another realm?”

Steven wiped at his eyes. “This is kind of a regular Tuesday for me, honestly. A portal to a new realm shouldn’t surprise me.”

“Are you not used to travel between other Realms?” Amber asked curiously. “Granted I’ve never dealt with it myself, but it’s rather well known among those who use magic or are  _ surrounded  _ by people who use magic.”

"As far as I know, my realm doesn't  _ have _ magic," he snorted, leaning himself back. "I mean, space travel, yeah, I've got that down pat. But magic wormholes spitting me out in front of giant castles? That's a new one for me."

“Space travel? As in stars?” Okay Amber was suddenly a lot more focused on him and beaming brightly as she grabbed a chair and sat right beside him. “You’re staying long enough for a story or two, certainly.”

"Oh boy, here we go," James said, he and Cedric both rolling their eyes while Sofia giggled.

"Oh, uh… Yeah. My mom was a Gem, so she was from the Gem Homeworld. The gems have different names for stars than humans, and I don't know if it's different across realms, but the Gem Homeworld orbits around a binary system. Acamar and Achernar? I mean, probably not in this realm- Oh jeez this is messing with my head."

“There’s only one way to find out,” Amber beamed, jumping up. “I’ll be back with my star maps in just a moment!”

"Oh, um, o…" And she was gone. "Kay." He glanced to the others. It wasn't just him, right? That was really weird?

“Sorry about her,” Sofia laughed softly. “She’s really,  _ really  _ into stars.”

"Oh. Yeah, that's cool. I was, too, for a long time. When you spend two years tearing down and liberating a galactic empire and playing peacekeeper for your aunts who are literally thousands of years older than you, it gets a little tiring."

“Wow. That sounds like a lot to deal with,” Sofia said after a moment. “I can see why you’re going around searching and self discovering, now.”

"Yeah. I spent a lot of time taking care of that, and all the-  _ stuff _ my mom did that I never really took time to explore myself and the effects it was having on me." 

“Well, at least now you can take the time to really get to know who you are.” Yeah… That was true. “Just think of this as another stop in your trip!”

Steven laughed, bumping his shoulder against hers. "Hey, that's not a half bad idea. Though I doubt you guys get signal here." He looked down at the mirror. "I wish I could talk to the Gems."

Steven paused, blinking down as he saw the mirror begin to swirl with colors before fading to reveal an image of his… living room? Wha- “ _ Steven?! _ ”

"Pearl?!" Steven shot up to stand, holding the mirror with both hands. "Pearl, is that you?!"

“ _ Wha- What are you doing in the mirror?! Are you trapped?! Should I get Lapis! _ ” Huh, good to know Steven wasn’t the only one thinking that with the whole mirror thing.

" _ Wait, did you say Steven?! _ "

" _ I heard Pearl squawking, what's up now? _ "

" _ Amethyst! _ "

Oh man… When was the last time he'd talked to all of them at once. "You guys, I'm not trapped in a mirror. My phone got turned into a magic mirror, and I kinda strolled vaguely into a portal on one of my hikes and now I'm in some other realm with magic!" He paced the tower, his eyes watering again as he grinned. 

“ _ Magic mirror- Magic doesn’t work like that! What do you mean you walked into a portal- _ ”

_ “Steven! Fight a dragon in my honor! Do it!” _

_ “Magic portal?! Are you alright? What does other realm mean?! Why aren’t you using your phone!” _

_ “Ah. Didn’t see this one coming. _ ”

Steven ran a hand through his hair. "I'm so glad to see you guys. Yeah- A  _ portal! _ A purple portal in the middle of the forest! And I might have accidentally on purpose stepped in and  _ look at me! _ " He pointed the mirror down at himself. "I have a  _ crown! _ " 

Amethyst was the first to properly respond, bursting into laughter and falling over with it while Pearl held her hands to her chest and  _ cooed,  _ “ _ Oh, Steven, you look so precious. _ ”

He groaned, a hand to his face. "Pearl, seriously, I  _ don't. _ My  _ hair was slicked back! _ How does a magic portal even  _ do that?! _ " 

“ _ Do you have a way home? _ ” Garnet asked, always the calm voice of reason among them. “ _ Do you need any help? _ ”

"I'm working on it already, Garnet. Thanks. Hopefully I'll at least be back in the country in a couple days. This is just… an unexpected detour," he told them with a smile.

“ _ Keep us updated, _ ” Garnet nodded, look softening after a moment. “ _ And keep in touch. _ ”

"I will. I promise." He looked between them all, smiling at his family.  _ His family. _ "I love you guys."

“ _ Love you too, Schtu-ball, but please try to stay safe-” _

_ “Fight that dragon! Key it up like you did that dude’s car! Love you!” _

_ “We all love you too, Steven- Hang on, he did  _ **_what?!_ ** ”

Steven raised a hand to wave and the mirror shimmered and they were gone. But… But it was so nice to see them. Especially in a weird place like this. The door opened before he could think too much more on it, Amber coming back in, “Alright so I got all of my maps- What happened to you! Are you alright?”

"Yeah. Sorry," he said, wiping at his eyes. "I cry a lot. I should be able to show you, if they're like the stars back home."

“Excellent! And don’t worry, we have plenty of criers in this family.” Amber eyed Sofia and James both, James looking insulted.

Sofia shrugged. "Shamelessly."

Steven couldn't help a laugh at that. "Glad to know I'm not the only one. Crying is a healthy form of expressing your emotions."

“Oh.” Sofia stared at him a moment, looking as if she was surprised by something before laughing. “I definitely agree.”

As Amber laid out the maps, Steven bent down. "Okay. Are these all geocentric or heliocentric based models?"

"Heliocentric for the most part, but I do have quite a few geocentric models as well."

Steven nodded. “No, no, heliocentric is good. Okay, so if this is Earth’s star,” he said, pointing, looking over the maps. “Then Homeworld should be… Ah! There!”

“Oh! I haven’t been able to study much of that area, yet. Quite a ways away, too.”

“Yeah. That’s where my mom was from, and all the other gems, too.”

“What are the gems like as a species? Are they similar to us or completely different? If they managed to get to you then I assume they achieved space flight. Ooh, this is so exciting!”

He shrugged, sitting himself down on the floor. “I still don’t totally know how they used to be. They  _ were _ an empire, and Mom was one of the matriarchs, but then she faked her shattering, and Earth got cut off from contact for five thousand years. I finished up dismantling the rest of the Empire about a year ago, and now they’re looking at a democracy.”

“And I thought our lives were complicated,” Cedric snorted, shaking his head. “You live quite the odd life, don’t you?”

“You can say that again.”

“Sounds like you live a pretty weird life.” Steven paused, looking at James, and… Huh. He liked that one.

“Don’t be rude, James,” Amber huffed, swatting at his shoulder. “Steven is our  _ guest,  _ after all.” Right… Okay, Steven really didn’t wanna give her the wrong idea or anything, but he also wasn’t entirely comfortable with all of that, but he also didn’t want to embarrass her… Jeez, how did he get stuck in the middle of things like this? 

Luckily, James was the one to save him. “ _ Me _ ? You’re the one flirting with him. He could already have someone for all you know!”

“Single until proven otherwise,” Amber sniffed, snapping a fan out and fluttering it, and, okay. The fan thing was unexpected.

“Uh, yeah,” he said, looking away and rubbing at the back of his neck. “I… kind of have my own princess back home.”

Amber paused, staring at him before sighing rather dramatically, “I suppose I can’t be too surprised. She must truly be lucky to have such a sweet thing like you.”

Steven couldn’t help his grin. “Nah. I’m the lucky one, really.”

“Worse than Cedric,” James muttered, yelping when a book landed on his head. “Hey!”

“My apologies, Prince James. It slipped.”

“Connie. She’s really great. She’s human, no magic, or anything, but… Gosh, I’m really lucky to have her.”

“She sounds wonderful,” Sofia smiled, sitting back in her chair. “We’ll be sure to get you home so you can see her again.”

He chuckled softly, “Yeah. She’s probably busy studying right now. She’s really smart. She’s ahead of most of her classmates. I think she’s ahead by like, a grade or two, but she’s just really smart like that. She’s looking at colleges and stuff.”

“Not quite sure what a college is, but she sounds wonderful,” Sofia smiled at him. “Tell me more about her?”

“Oh- Yeah, a college is a secondary schooling typically after you’re eighteen. She wants to be a politician, so obviously that means she needs to study lots of politics, and-” Wait a minute. Steven paused, look back at the magic mirror in his hands. “...Hey, magic mirror? Can you… pull up any of my phone pictures of Connie?”

It was a long moment before pictures of Connie were appearing on the face of the mirror, Steven beaming because he had his pictures of her! “There,” he said, showing them with a wide smile. “That’s her.” That was his Connie!

“Oh, she’s so pretty,” Sofia cooed, Amber leaning over to view the pictures too.

“I suppose she’s rather nice,” Amber said at last, small smile on her face before she grinned. “So, Steven, tell us  _ all  _ about her.”

Oh man, Steven could do that  _ easy. _

☆

Steven stood a bit awkwardly behind the girls. Amber had insisted he put his 'crown' back on, which he realized had a pink diamond at the very front. Seriously, universe? That wasn't a little bit on the nose? Amber and Sofia looked to each other before Amber entered the room first. "Daddy?" Oh boy. 

What looked to be the  _ King  _ looked over, raising an eyebrow, “Everyone all at once, huh? What disaster should I be expecting next?”

"We just wanted to know if a new friend could stay with us temporarily." Amber looked over at the  _ Queen _ then, "Surely it's alright with you, mother?"

“It depends on who your new friend is,” their mom said, looking amused as she looked between all of her children.

Sofia glanced back at him with a nod, and Steven stepped forward. "This is Steven. He's from another realm." Amber looked like she still wasn't happy about the whole 'honesty' course he and Sofia had decided on, but no going back now. 

“Another realm?” The queen frowned, looking concerned at once. “Oh, my. Are you alright? Do you need help in getting home?”

“Thank you, ma’am,” he said with a nod. “Cedric is already working on helping me get home.”

“Then of course you’re welcome to stay for as long as you need to.” Aw. She was so nice. He kind of got where Sofia got it from, now.

He nodded to her, and to the king as well. “Thank you, ma’am. Thank you, sir.” The two seemed to share a look, their mother finally stepping forward. 

“Why don’t I show you to a room you can stay in while you’re with us?”

Steven nodded again, his hands clasped tightly. “Uh- Yeah. Yeah, thank you.”

“Of course. You can follow me right this way.” Once they were in the hallway, Miranda gave him a warm smile, “A bit different from your realm, I take it?”

“Heh, yeah, you can definitely say that,” he told her, nodding and following her. “I didn’t know other realms existed.”

“I wasn’t fully aware of it until a few years ago when I became Queen,” she laughed softly. “Cedric and Sofia are good at what they do, however. I’m certain they’ll get you home.”

“Yeah, I can tell,” he told her. “Now… I don’t mean to pry, but are they…?”

“Your guess is as good as ours,” Miranda laughed, covering her mouth for a moment. “They’ve always been close since the start, and it’s rather obvious to tell where it’s going, but, well… I’ll give them their time and space.”

Steven smiled, nodding. “Yeah, I… I guess you could say I’m pretty empathetic, most days. I can tell they really care about each other.” 

“They really do,” Miranda said softly, a sigh following her words a moment later. “I hope everything goes well for them.”

“I’m sure it will. Sofia’s really nice,” Steven told Miranda, grinning. She’d let him go on and on about Connie, after all.

“Don’t be fooled, she can get into just as much trouble as her siblings combined,” Miranda laughed, Steven hearing and feeling the love for her kids so clearly. “I wouldn’t change a bit of her, though.” That was… so nice. Her mom seemed to really care about her.

“Heh. Yeah. Sounds like someone else I know.” 

“Ah, here we are.” Miranda led him to his ‘room’ which looked more like the size of his entire  _ house.  _ “You can stay here until we can get you home.”

Steven absently nodded, looking around the room. “Woah.” 

“Not quite what you’re used to?”

“Not really… I mean, I guess this is similar to what my mom had, and what my aunts have, but…”

“But it’s not a part of life you’re typically a part of?” Miranda guessed - rather accurately. “I know it took me weeks to get used to everything - and I’m still caught off guard by all the new rooms I still find.”

“Yeah. It’s… really complicated. With both sides of the family,” he finally snorted, remembering what he’d found out about his dad.

“I’ve found that complicated just comes from being in a family,” Miranda smiled softly, gently placing a hand on his back. “Take your time settling in or calming down or whatever you need. Sofia will no doubt be by later to check on you. Do you need anything else? Food or water?”

“I’ll be fine. Really. Thank you, for everything.” He walked over to look in a mirror. Wow. Look at him. A prince. He was an actual prince- Hang on. What was that on his belt? Whatever it was happened to be pink and- Oh. Well. Steven unsheathed the sword, looking it over. It… It was a sword, yeah. It wasn’t quite like his mom’s sword, though. It was pink, yeah, but… It was a little different. He tossed it back and forth in his hands, watching the blade carefully. “Huh.” The universe made him a prince, and gave him a crown, and a sword. That was… Oh, gosh. 

Connie was never going to let him live this moment down if she found out- Should he call her? He should probably call her and let her know he would be out of service for a while. Before he could pick up the mirror, he startled as it started… shimmering and vibrating? Wait. It had Connie's name on the surface. Was she calling his phone? "Uh… Accept?"

“ _ Steven, my Steven Sense was going off. Did something happen? Are you okay? Am I just being paranoid? Did- Hang on. What are you wearing? _ ”

"Connie? Wow. You are, like, crystal clear." Hah, mirror joke. "Did you call my phone?"

“ _ Wha- Of course I called your phone- You don’t have your phone? How did I get through to you, then? _ ”

Steven grinned at her, turning the magic mirror so it was pointed at the mirror. "Would you believe me if I said magic mirror?"

“ _ Magic… Ah! Magic! Steven! You look like a prince! Is that a sword? You get a sword? A crown! You have a crown! You’re a prince! Wait, hang on, magic mirror- Steven! Am I missing a magical high fantasy adventure?! _ ”

"Uh, kind of, yeah. I accidentally on purpose walked into a portal in the middle of the forest and landed in front of a castle like this," he said, turning the mirror back to him. "My phone got turned into a magic mirror."

“ _ Ah, so a world where everything you have is given the equivalent of how it works in that world. Interesting. I suppose it explains your coat, too.”  _ Connie stared at him before very clearly pouting. “ _ You’re in a world with magic and I’m missing it. _ ”

"Heh, sorry. You know I don't really plan these kinds of things. Promise that you won't tell the Diamonds. They'll never let me live it down." He ran a hand through his hair. "I guess it does kinda fit, doesn't it?"

“ _ First off, yes, it does fit, all things considered. Second off, I promise I won’t tell the Diamonds as long as we can spend a full weekend together whenever you’ll be back! _ ” Connie’s smile fell into a worried frown. “ _ You’re going to be alright getting back… right? _ ”

"I should be. There's this wizard or mage or something here, he's working on finding our realm and getting me back where I belong. And seriously, we'll spend as much time together as you want."

“ _ If that was the case then you’d get sick of how often you saw me, _ ” Connie teased, smiling once more.

"Aw, you know I'd never get sick of you. I mean, I tried to marry you," he snorted.

Connie gave a burst of giggles before shaking her head, “ _ Hey, hey, saying tried makes it sound like you failed. _ ”

"Connie, I  _ literally _ blew up over it."

Connie made a sound that was somewhere between his name and a snort of laughter, which meant he had won. “ _ Don’t say it like  _ **_that_ ** _!” _

Steven laughed, laying down on the bed and holding the mirror over him. "Well then how would you say it, smarty-pants?"

“ _ Well- _ ” Connie paused, frowning as she seemed to think before giving a small huff. “ _ I’d say you literally blew up over it. _ ”

Steven snorted, "Yeah, see? Exactly. But I'm really starting to get control of my pink mode, I think."

“ _ Really? That’s great! Have you been practicing or has it just been cropping up? _ ”

“A little bit of both? It’s been kind of cropping up, but I’ve been trying to use it when it does, honestly. That’s how all my powers start, right?”

“ _ Exactly. This is just another new power you can use that you can learn to control. I mean, you said you had problems when you first learned to float, right? This is probably the same only with a few more, hm, consequences. _ ”

He rolled his eyes, adjusting and sitting himself up. “Yeah, you can say that again. I mean, I used ‘em pretty well back in Windfolk,” he said with a smirk. Connie burst into giggles, trying to smother the sound as her shoulders shook. 

“ _ I’d say so, certainly. _ ”

“ _ Connie? Are you on the phone? _ ”

Steven snickered, “Busted.”

“ _ You hush, _ ” Connie scolded before raising her voice. “ _ Yeah, Mom, I’m on the phone! _ ”

“ _ Is that Steven? _ ” Oh boy, here they went. Before Connie could answer, her bedroom door was opening behind her.

“Hi, Dr. Maheswaran.”

“ _ Steven! What a pleasure to hear from you. How is your trip going? Everything alright? _ ”

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” he chuckled, even as Connie held a hand over her face. “I’m just on, uh… A bit of an unplanned detour. You know. Magic stuff.”

“ _ Of course. Well, we’ll leave you two to your conversation, but try to visit us soon, Steven.” _

“I’ll try,” he told her with a nod. “Give my love to the mister for me.”

“ _ I will, _ ” she laughed, giving him a smile before leaving the room, Connie rolling her eyes. 

“ _ Jeez, _ ” Connie muttered once she was gone. “ _ I think she loves you more than she loves me. _ ”

“Aw, come on, don’t say that,” he told her.

Connie adjusted in her seat to  _ look  _ at him. “ _ Steven. She added another heart to her ‘son-in-law’ contact. There are now two hearts. You know how many mine has? One. _ ” Steven laughed, and he felt… someone else’s amusement? Okay. He didn’t feel that with the gems, he  _ doubted _ it was a magic mirror. But… He looked around the room. No one in the room. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t someone  _ outside _ the room… “ _ Steven? You got that look on your face. _ ”

Alright. He couldn’t help himself. He put a finger to his lips, standing and creeping his way towards the door. “C’mon, Connie. You know your mom loves you.” 

Connie, as always, read his mind and gave a beaming smile. “ _ Of course. I just know that she loves you more than me. _ ”

“Aw, come on, I wouldn’t  _ say  _ that _. _ ” Steven tiptoed his way to the door, pushing it open. “ _ Boo! _ ” There was a startled shriek from Sofia as she scrambled back, Cedric smiling weakly.

“We got lost?”

“Connie? I’m gonna go ahead and call you back.” Steven bubbled the magic mirror as it shimmered so he could properly put his hands on his hips, raising an eyebrow.

There was a clear laugh from  _ behind him who the heck-  _ “Not to worry, Prince Steven, we were merely checking up on you.”

Steven flicked away the shield that had tried to form. “It is… a  _ really _ bad idea to sneak up on me.”

“I’m sure it’s just,” Amber  _ smirked  _ before fluttering a fan over her face. “Well, I suppose I’ll be off. Some of us have duties to attend to, after all.”

Steven watched her start to walk away, and he looked back to Sofia and Cedric, opening the door wider. “Is she always like that?”

“Always!” Amber called back with  _ glee,  _ Sofia looking torn between laughing and rolling her eyes.

“Sorry, she’s… Amber.”

“Jeez,” he huffed as the two of them entered the room. “I’ve never known someone like that.”

“As loathe as I am to admit it,” Cedric sighed as he headed towards a desk, “She’s actually rather tolerable once you can grow used to her.”

"Wow, jeez, tell me how you really feel," Steven said with a roll of his eyes. "What's up?"

“We wanted to see how you were really doing,” Sofia smiled softly at him. “I have a feeling you’re not quite as okay with all of this as you seem.”

He laughed quietly, scratching at the back of his head and sitting on the bed. “Yeah, well… It’s still not worse than being semi-kidnapped from your home planet multiple times.”

“Oh,” Sofia said, hand covering her mouth. “That sounds just…  _ awful _ . And it happened more than once?”

“Yeah. My aunts thought I was my mom, so the first two times, they were trying to get me to pay for her war crimes, but then the last time, they realized my mom was basically their sister, so they took me to Homeworld cause they still thought I was her, and they’d thought she was dead for five thousand years.”

The two stared at him, Cedric finally shaking his head, “I don’t think anyone else would ever believe you about the kind of life you’ve led.”

“Yeah. I kinda count on that, sometimes.” He ran a hand through his hair, sighing quietly. “And I’m not even  _ that _ freaked out. I feel like that’s bad.” 

“I’m not sure.” Sofia moved to sit on the desk itself, lightly nudging at Cedric with her foot. It looked more like an absent little motion than her trying to get his attention. “I react the same way, sometimes. I used to be just a village girl and now I’m dealing with magic and other kingdoms and all kinds of crazy things.”

“Man, I can relate to  _ that. _ I didn’t start getting my powers or anything until I was thirteen. I was mostly just… a kid living on the beach with his mom’s magic friends.”

“Right! I didn’t even know I could really  _ do  _ magic until I got the amulet and Cedric started teaching me spells!”

“I didn’t know  _ anything _ about my powers! At first, I thought they came from eating  _ ice cream! _ ”

“I get it! I thought my magic came just from using a wand - like the  _ wand  _ was the source of the magic and just anyone could use it!”

“Oh man, and- And a lot of the people you meet, who you think are bad at first, you get to talking to them, and then, suddenly, you guys are friends?”

“Yes!” Sofia threw her arms up, Cedric easily dodging. “That happens all the time! Like- I meet people who I think will become my  _ enemy  _ or something, and then poof! Friends!”

"Yes! Oh stars!" Steven laughed, his head falling back. "I met these twins, right? I introduced myself, and one of them didn't trust me, but the other one, we really hit it off. Well Connie comes over all 'I timed it. It took you thirty-seven seconds from the point of introducing yourself to when you became friends.'"

Sofia burst into laughter, quickly shaking her head, “I’m not laughing at you, just- Cedric did the same to me. Twenty-one seconds.”

"Jeez, maybe Connie was right, I  _ am _ rusty!"

“I was just feeling lucky that day,” Sofia smirked, bursting into more giggles. “No offense, but I think it’s a rather good thing you’re here for a few days. I have a feeling there’s a  _ lot  _ we can talk about.”

"You know, funnily enough, I was thinking the  _ same thing, _ " he snorted.

“Then I know just what this sort of occasion calls for,” Sofia said seriously, face grim before she smirked. “More hot chocolate and a lot of blankets.”

"Do you guys happen to have any… instruments?"

“ _ Plenty.  _ Do you want to start with the mandolin or the harp first?”

"You know, I've always wanted to learn the harp."

“Harp it is!”

It wasn't long before Sofia and Cedric were back in his room, blankets spread across the floor, the two of them sitting, while Steven sat, concentrating on the harp, and… "It's like a sideways piano."

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard a harp called a sideways piano,” Cedric commented, laying in a mess of blankets with his head on Sofia’s lap. It looked like he was ready to fall asleep.

"Have you ever looked inside a piano? It's all just strings." Steven heard Cedric give a vague mumble, Sofia giggling as he plucked at a few of the strings. It seemed pretty easy, honestly. Hm… If that was true, then maybe all he needed to do was…

Steven plucked at a few of the strings, smiling at the sound. This was really nice. A little more classical than his usual style, but it felt really… soft. Gentle. It was nice. 

“And you’ve  _ never  _ played a harp before?” Sofia asked, looking surprised. “You sound like you’ve already had  _ lessons  _ in it.”

"I play a  _ lot _ of instruments. It gets to be easy to translate things over," Steven said as he played, smiling. "My dad taught me how to play a couple instruments ever since I was little. Haven't stopped since."

“That’s so sweet,” Sofia smiled, watching him play and absently ruffling Cedric’s hair from where he was still resting on her lap. “Alright, you said you play a lot of instruments, just how many is a lot?”

Steven paused in his playing and… "Wait, hold on a second." He held his hands out, counting on his fingers. "Thir… teen? Fourteen I guess technically?"

“Oh, wow,” Sofia said, blinking in surprise at him. “That is a lot. Is that what you love doing? Music?” Steven thought about it, finally smiling.

“Yeah, well… Maybe. I dunno. It was always one of those things that took a backseat to everything else, y’know?” 

“Then maybe now you can take the time to really work on your music,” Sofia suggested. “It sounds like a thing that was just… yours. You know?”

He shrugged. “I think it’s more like a family thing, you know? It’s how my mom and my dad met.” 

“Aw, that sounds so sweet,” Sofia beamed.

“Heh, yeah. I guess. I just don’t know if it’s my thing. That’s… part of what I’m still trying to figure out.”

Sofia nodded, smile soft. “It sounds like you have plenty of time to try and figure it out, then. Even if it doesn’t turn out to be your thing, there’s still a lot for you to explore and learn, right?”

“Yeah. I’m still trying to figure out if I wanna get into plants. Y’know, gardening?” He was back to playing, smiling as he did so. “Like… It was kinda my mom’s thing with her whole magic healing tears and stuff, but I like doing it the old fashioned way.”

“Oh, you absolutely have to see our gardens before you leave. If you like gardening then you’ll  _ love  _ them.” Gardens, huh?  _ Castle  _ gardens. “The roses are especially my favorite.”

“Man, roses are  _ so hard _ to take care of. The pH balance in the soil has to be  _ just right _ or they’ll, like, instantly wither.” 

Cedric groaned, cracking his eyes open, “Don’t even  _ start  _ on roses. Every time I try to grow them on my own they just  _ wither and die! _ ”

“Yeah. I’ve got my own garden back home. Accidentally brought a cactus to life. I wasn’t a very good role model for him.”

“You brought a cactus to life?” Sofia blinked, shaking her head. “I thought you said your world didn’t have magic- Oh! But that means it’s from your mom’s side of the family, then?”

“Yep. My powers are… a  _ little _ different from hers,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Far as I know,  _ she _ never brought s-  _ stuff _ to life- Okay, what the heck?!”

“What? What’s wrong?” Sofia asked, looking startled. “Are you alright?”

Steven stared at her, swivelling himself entirely towards them. “ _ Why can’t I curse? _ ” Sofia blinked at him, looking confused before Cedric burst into laughter.

“Oh, Merlin’s  _ Mushrooms  _ I am  _ so glad  _ that’s not just me!” Hang on, was his accent different all of a sudden?

He frowned, tilting his head. “Wha- What? Your-” No, Steven, that was  _ rude. _ Ugh. He hated being ‘good.’ “What’s not just you?”

Cedric gave another laugh, finally sitting up before moving to stand and brushing his robes off, “Sofia, we’ll be right back. You just stay right here.” Cedric pressed a little kiss to the top of Sofia’s head before gesturing for Steven to follow him. Raising an eyebrow, Steven stood and followed after him. Alright. Something was obviously up.

It wasn’t until they were almost at the end of the hall before Cedric was turning around, crossing his arms, and smirking, “Alright. Try to curse.”

Steven watched him, crossing his arms back. “Fudge.”

Cedric snorted into his fist, shaking his head, “Possibly the same magic… I have a theory that Sofia has her own brand of magic that doesn’t allow for too much negativity around her and that, somehow, includes fuckin’ swearing.”

Staring at him, he dropped his arms. “That’s a load of bologna.” Fucking shit! Steven’s hands clenched into fists, and in his frustration, he flipped into Gem, “ _ What fucking bullshit! _ ”

Cedric blinked at him, looking curious, “What language was that?”

He paused, and… Wait. He’d cursed. In  _ Gem. _ “That was Gem.”

“Gem? Oh! Your mother’s language,” Cedric nodded, that strange accent filtering back in. “Huh. Guess that could work. Did you manage to curse?”

“Yeah, I did,” he said. “Guess this shard of a universe didn’t think of that.”

“Realm travel,” Cedric snorted, shaking his head. “It’s a fuckin’ headache. Can’t even make potions around her half the time where shits always goin’ wrong and I can’t swear because she’s there.”

“No offense, but I hope to the  _ stars _ I never have to go through any of this again.”

“Can’t say I blame ya,” Cedric snorted, starting to walk back towards where they left Sofia. “Now, you gonna ask about my accent now or later?”

Steven shrugged. “I didn’t plan on asking at all, really. I figured you’d tell me sometime if you wanted to.”

“So sweet,” Cedric teased, giving a shrug. “My mum’s side of the family. I grew up with her, mostly, so I picked up her accent. It’s a pain tryin’ to keep ‘proper’ around the castle now that I’m the Royal Sorcerer.” As Cedric explained, he opened the door and walked straight towards Sofia. “We’re back. Had to help Steven with some realm specific problems he was havin’.”

As he walked over to the bed, laying himself across it, Steven huffed quietly, “I’m, like, eh, whatever, with accents.”

“Wish it was like that with others,” Cedric snorted, Steven glancing over to see him sit down beside Sofia and lightly lean against her. “Royals, especially, tend to have  _ opinions  _ over it.”

Steven rolled his eyes. “Dude, I am so  _ over _ whatever ‘opinions’ that ‘royals’ have. My aunts tried that kind of stuff with me. I didn’t let it last that long.”

“We’re still working with Amber and James on it,” Sofia sighed, leaning right back into Cedric. They were kind of cute. “But there are some classmates at my school that are… Well.”

“Irritating little worms that deserve a good kick to the backside,” Cedric finished for her.

“Jeez, tell me how you really feel. The more I hear about school, the more I’m so glad I never went.”

“You’re lucky, then,” Cedric rolled his eyes. “If I could have skipped going to my own school I would have done so  _ happily. _ ”

“I dunno, part of me is still upset I never got to do what literally every kid my age was doing.” 

“I think that’s understandable,” Sofia nodded, giving him a small smile. “I lived a pretty normal life before Mom married the King and all of this happened. I know at the beginning I tried to move back to the village on my own.”

He looked back over at her. “I never really had a normal life, even before I got my powers.”

“That sounds like a hard life,” Sofia said softly.

“It was alright, for the most part. Dad was really trying, and so were the Gems.”

“At last there’s that, right? You always had your family supporting you.”

“Yeah, I guess. I… I’m still not super about talking about some of it. What about you, though? You turned into a princess overnight.”

Sofia groaned, looking exhausted for a moment, “I’m not sure what would have been better, this, or if I  _ had  _ grown up with it all.”

He smiled at her. “You liked your normal life a lot better, didn’t you?”

“I…” Sofia trailed off, seeming to think as she leaned against Cedric and looked up at him for a moment. “I used to. But now, after everything I’ve gone through and everything that’s happened… I still miss when my life was normal and simple and everything made sense, but I don’t think I’d change what has happened to me. Not a moment of it.”

“Huh.” Steven… He… wasn’t really sure he could say the same, in his own situation. He’d gone through a  _ lot _ of stuff. If he had the chance to change some of it he… probably would have. At last some of the more nastier events he had been forced to go through.

He watched Sofia look to Cedric, tugging him slightly. "We'll let you get settled, and work on getting you back home."

“It shouldn’t take too long,” Cedric assured him, standing up with Sofia. “We know the basics of what we need to do, at this point.”

“Oh. Yeah, alright,” he said with a nod, and yeah. Yeah, they needed to… do their thing.

“You just relax and settle,” Sofia said. “And once you’ve done that you can help us if you want to. Or I can kidnap you to the gardens. Or both.”

Steven nodded at them. “Yeah. I will, thanks.”

After the two left, Steven laid back down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling for a moment and, right. Right. Just another place to visit while he was on his road trip. It… couldn’t be that- No. It  _ wouldn’t  _ be bad. Besides, he had already met nice people. He would be fine.

It didn’t take long before Steven found the garden for himself. And it was nice. It was easy for him to find a place to sit, on the grass, surrounded by the flowers even as evening set in. He sighed in the sunshine. Maybe… Maybe this was what he needed. To slow down for a minute, instead of go go going.

The universe probably could have done a slightly better job of proving that point, but, well. He was there now, surrounded by sunshine and flowers and… doing alright. He glanced and… Yeah. He wasn’t surprised.

One of those ‘little things’ was fluttering, glowing white as it usually did. He couldn’t really say he was all that surprised. The question was how to deal with it before he got too consumed on trying to deal with it.

Maybe… For now he could… Steven put his feet together, his hands in his lap, and he closed his eyes. Flexibility, love, and trust. Taking in a deep breath, Steven let it out slowly and surely, feeling his body start to relax and release tension he hadn’t even known was there. It was okay. He could let go of it all. It was okay. It couldn’t hurt him anymore. He was okay.

Slowly, slowly but so surely, he knew that he really  _ was  _ okay. Not perfect, not by a long shot, but… okay. He was getting better. Slowly, still so slowly, but… he was getting there. When he opened his eyes, everything felt calmer, and he felt just a little more comfortable in his skin. Looking up at the sky, he smiled softly.  _ I'm here.  _

He wasn’t sure how long he was in that calm state before he heard someone walking towards him, James appearing a moment later. “Oh, hey. Sofia told you about the gardens, huh?”

"Hey. Yeah, she did. Kinda reminds me of home. I have my own garden," he told him, smiling up at him. 

“Cool.” James looked down at him for a moment, finally seeming to decide something. “So, you ever spar before?”

"Spar? Yeah, plenty. You actually kinda just caught me meditating. What kind of sparring?"

James had perked up, starting to grin, “Sword. I noticed you carried one and I’m always looking for new people to spar with.”

"Oh." Steven looked at the sword. "I mean, I guess. Connie's really more of the swordsman between us, but I know how to use it, I guess."

“Would you be up for a sparring match? Maybe you can learn a thing or two while you’re here, after all,” James grinned.

Well… Steven didn't really have that bad of memories of using a  _ sword. _ He finally stood with a nod. "Yeah, sure."

“Excellent! Come on, I know just the room we can spar in - although be warned, Amber will probably sniff us out and want to watch.”

Steven shrugged. "That's fine, I'm used to the gems watching me spar back home."

“Great! You’re good to spar right now, right?” Even as he asked, James was helping Steven to his feet and giving him a push along towards the castle.

"Yeah, I don't see why not."

It didn't take them long to get to… wherever it was James wanted them to spar, Steven taking off his sandals — at least the universe let him have that. When he saw James' look, he gave a sheepish grin. "I normally fight better without my shoes." 

“Huh. Have you tried fighting in other shoes? I mean, the ones you wear kind of don’t look good for fighting at all.”

"No, no, I just like being able to feel the ground and stuff without anything in the way. You know." Steven took out his sword, once again examining it. A pink diamond adorned the hilt… That was just rude.

“I kind of don’t know, but maybe I’ll try sparring without shoes some day. It sounds kind of fun - and a little dangerous, which makes it more fun.”

Dropping down into a fighting stance, Steven held the sword and nodded at James. "Alright."

“Huh. You get pretty intense when it comes down to it,” James said, pulling out his own sword and getting into a stance.

"I've had a few fights." He wasn't gonna make the first move. He  _ wouldn't.  _

Steven didn’t bother to count how long they stood there before James rushed forward. He definitely knew what he was doing when it came to using a sword, but, well. Steven had grown up learning alongside Pearl and Connie. Steven parried his attacks, refusing to step back at the onslaught. He wasn't gonna give up a single step. Instead, he thrust his sword, taking a step forward.

James was the one to dodge back, blocking the attack with surprise in his face before he was grinning. “You  _ are  _ good.” And with that, he was charging forward again himself.

“Yeah,” he said quietly, catching the blade and shoving him off, rolling away. “I know.” James blinked as he caught himself, staring at Steven with surprise before he was charging forward, dodging to the left at the last moment before pivoting on his heel and bringing his sword in towards Steven’s side. On instinct, Steven summoned his shield, bringing his arm against his side to block the attack as he once again pressed on with his sword.

“Whoa- Hey! Magic is cheating!” Wait. Wait. Sparring. It was- It was just a spar. Steven drew back, desummoning his shield with a grimace.

“Sorry. Sorry. Force of habit.” James lowered his sword, looking at Steven for a moment before giving a grin.

“It’s alright. Lemme guess, instinct, right?”

Steven nodded, taking a few deep breaths. Just a spar. “Yeah. Yeah, I-” he swallowed, nodding. “Yeah.”

“I get it,” James said, relaxing his stance some more. “You wanna keep going or maybe take a break? Because I don’t know about you, but that was  _ already  _ exhausting.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I can take a break.” Steven sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“You wanna help me raid the kitchens? They usually have some pretty good snacks before dinner.”

Looking to him, Steven grinned. “Yeah. I can definitely do that.”

“Alright! Looks like I have a new kitchen raiding buddy!”

☆

Night fell quicker than Steven realized, and soon enough he was back in the room they’d given him, and looking out the window, taking off his crown, and the belt holding his sword. Man, the universe sure made everything complicated, didn’t it? It wasn’t enough that he had been tossed into another universe where he was barely allowed to swear, but the universe had made him a  _ prince.  _ There were limits on how far Steven was willing to deal with certain things and this? This was ridiculous to the extreme.

Once he’d practically  _ stripped, _ Steven put the clothes aside and sighed, taking another glance out the window, and looking out at the sky. The moon. The stars. “G’night, guys,” he said quietly, laying himself down. There was no verbal answer, of course there wouldn’t be, but… He felt something in him settle just a bit more than it had been.

When he woke up the next morning, Steven had one of those…  _ experiences, _ where he woke up somewhere unfamiliar and had to try to figure out if he was in a dream or not. He stood up from the bed he’d been in, and looked around. It… kinda reminded him of his mom’s palace? Or- Or maybe White’s?

It was a hodgepodge of what looked like a lot of places, now that Steven was looking around. The sky looked like the sky from Homeworld, but the ground was made of the beach, the woods, and a bit of boardwalk. It looked like a mix between everywhere he had been or loved being. Steven cupped his hands around his mouth, “ _ Hello! _ ” He called, looking around. “Anyone here?” This place was…  _ really weird. _ This had to be a dream, right? Last he remembered, he was… in a castle.

That was right. He had been transported into another universe and he had ended up in a castle as a prince. This, though, didn’t look anything like that, so he had to be in a dream- Someone. Someone was there with him. 

Whirling around to look at the glimpse of movement he had seen, Steven saw… himself. He saw himself only  _ pink _ \- And not- Not Pink Diamond about to shatter a gem pink, but pink like he had been when his gem… had been torn out of him. He didn’t even get a step forward before that pink Steven was disappearing around a corner. Steven startled. “Hey- Hey, wait! Wait up!”

Sliding against the floor, Steven ran after him, trying to catch up. He ran into the wall at the end of the hallway, turning to see where he’d gone, and he was already at the end of the corridor, making another turn  _ away _ from him. “ _ Wait! _ ”

This other version of him glanced back, giving a small smile. It wasn’t a smirk, or some kind of sly grin, or some  _ I know more than you do  _ smile, it was just… happy. Like this version of him was finally happy to see him. Pushing himself off the wall, Steven ran towards him, reaching a hand out-

“Hello, Steven. Do you think he’s alright?”

“I think he would be better if we didn’t wake him up so early.” Ah. Sofia and Cedric. Right. No longer asleep, then.

“Ugh,” he groaned, sitting up and rubbing at his eyes. “It’s fine. I normally wake up early.”

“Strange dreams?” Sofia asked sympathetically. “I know I couldn’t sleep at all when I first moved into the castle.”

“Yeah. I mean, that’s part of it, I’m just naturally an early riser. And yeah,  _ really _ weird dream. Like, I don’t know if it was a dream, or gem stuff.”

“Spooky,” Cedric drawled, yawning wide. “If you’re hungry breakfast should be soon. If you’re not hungry breakfast will still be soon because you should eat.”

Steven sighed, trying to shake his dream off. “Yeah, yeah, body is a temple and all that.” That dream, though… Had been  _ so strange. _ His gem half?

Sofia gently touched his shoulder, giving him a small smile. “That odd of a dream, huh?” Yeah. That was one way to put it.

“Yeah,” he said quietly, running a hand through his hair. His gem half… His gem half had  _ smiled _ at him? What  _ was _ that place? Had it been like when Stevonnie had that dream on the moon? Except no, that couldn’t be it, he hadn’t seen anything about Pink Diamond or Rose or any of the other Diamonds. So what had all of  _ that  _ been. It… hadn’t really felt like a  _ dream  _ dream.

“We’ll walk you to the dining room when you’re ready, Steven,” Sofia told him quietly, the two of them both leaving the room. He watched before stretching himself out. Guess he better… Greet the day with a smile, or whatever it was. Maybe he could stay in bed and pout for a few more minutes, though? That dream had been so  _ weird.  _

Like, yeah, Steven had weird dreams before, the whole Lapis thing and the astral projection thing, and all of that, but… Hang on. Was this like that? Was he astral projecting himself to where he could talk to his  _ gem  _ half? Maybe… Maybe if he meditated more later, he’d be able to try again? Talk to his gem half… That… Wow. That would be  _ something. _ Cause there was something there. Right?

Steven thought on it a couple minutes more before finally standing. He’d have to put on the same clothes as yesterday, but that was fine. He had a feeling he wouldn’t be here too long. 

A short breakfast later and Steven was following Cedric and Sofia up to the tower, looking around curiously. He still couldn’t believe he was in a  _ human  _ castle. "You said your kingdom is called  _ Enchancia? _ " That was… definitely a name.

“Yep! Isn’t it such a great name?” Sofia beamed at him, Cedric rolling his eyes behind her back and oh, good. Someone else saw how Enchancia was…  _ a name. _

"Uh… great is definitely an adjective," he finally settled on, the three of them entering the tower, and… a bunny and Cedric's raven were on the table. They almost looked like they weren't getting along.

Sofia sighed. "What this time?"The bunny looked at her with a twitching nose and the raven started cawing, and, alright. She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms at them. "Well you two have to figure it out for yourselves. I can't sit here playing mediator with you two all the time. It's been almost a year, can't you get along?"

Ah, close pets, then. That made sense, he supposed. Cedric, for his part, was giving a snort of laughter as he went over towards a pile of books, scrolls, and notes. The bunny twitched its nose at her, then looked over at Steven. "Yes, thank you Clover, I did notice. This is Steven. We're trying to get him back to his realm." …Okay that was way too specific.

The bunny’s nose twitched yet again, looking to Sofia and then back to Steven. "Well, okay, fine,  _ half _ human."

Woah… "Dude. You can talk to animals?"

“Hm? Oh! Yes, I can. It’s all thanks to my amulet,” Sofia said, as if talking to animals was  _ nothing. _

"Dude, that's  _ awesome. _ That's like the one thing my powers can't do that I  _ so _ wish they could do. Well. That and invisibility. How cool would  _ that _ be?"

“Oh! That’s happened to me a few times and oh  _ boy  _ can it be troublesome,” Sofia sighed, hand to her cheek. “I think I’d be happy if I never had to deal with it again.”

“Speak for yourself,” Cedric laughed. “I’ve found that the perfect invisibility spell can lead to some  _ excellent  _ eavesdropping.”

Steven shrugged. "I'd just use to get people to leave me alone."

Sofia cleared her throat, "Be careful what you wish for." That sounded… very specific and Steven had a feeling that Sofia had been through  _ something  _ after saying words like those.

He tilted his head. "So- Wait wait wait. You get magic powers from a pink gem that's with you all the time?"

“That’s actually a great way to put it, yeah!” Sofia beamed. “It used to be purple, of course, but after we freed the princess trapped inside, it turned pink.” The… princess trapped inside her…

Steven lifted his shirt. "Nope. Can't relate." Sofia and Cedric both blinked at him, staring at the gem before Cedric cleared his throat.

“I have to say, when you were explaining about Gems I didn’t think that meant you had an actual  _ gem  _ inside of you.”

"Yeah, the gems project their physical forms as manifestations of light, but I'm half human, so I don't really get a big light show or anything."

Sofia looked at it with interest. "So… That's the Pink Diamond gem?"

Okay, Steven. She didn't  _ mean _ mom. "Yep." 

“Hm.” Sofia seemed to stare at him for a few more moments before giving him a smile. “Your gem looks lovely, Steven.” There seemed to be just a bit of emphasis on the word  _ your. _

Huh. "Thanks," he told her, smiling at her. Was… this what it was like for everyone else? Having a 'Steven' to pick them up and dust them off? It was… nice. "So, how are you guys finding my realm?"

“Well, there are a few different ways, actually. We can scry through them one by one until we find the right one,  _ or  _ you can give me a strand of your hair,” Cedric said, pulling out his wand and filling an empty bowl full of water. Glancing to the table, Steven hummed quietly. Pair of scissors.

Reaching over, he grabbed the scissors and grabbed a strand of hair, snipping it and handing it off to Cedric. "Easy enough."

“Thank you,” Cedric said, dropping the hair into the water. “Sofia, remember those scrying drops we made a few weeks ago? Can you grab them, please?”

"On it, Royal Sorcerer!" Hm… He had to do something about that. 

"So, how long have you guys been dating?"

The reactions happened at once, Cedric tipping over half the bowl of water he had and Sofia sounding like she had either tripped or ran into something completely. “Wha- Aha! I’m sorry, what- Ha! Right! I’ll just- I’ll mop this up! Right now! This second!”

Steven rose an eyebrow as the two of them tried to right themselves, Cedric flicking his wand and drying the spill in an instant. Still pretty cool. "What did you say, Sofia?"

“I- Uh- Found the drops! Yes. That’s what I said. That I found the drops that we need. Right here.” Mhm.

Steven raised his voice, "Yeah, I said how long have you guys been together."

Cedric seemed to try to splutter through an explanation as Sofia came back, “You know, Steven, that’s a great question, but we should really focus on trying to get you home, right?”

"What, so you can't talk and walk, princess?" He tilted his head at her with a smirk. As expected, Sofia twitched and narrowed her eyes at him.

“I don’t think I like what you’re implying,” Sofia said at last, crossing her arms and almost puffing herself up.

He snorted, straightening up and stepping towards her. "It's just a question, no need to get your tiara in a twist," he said, straightening out her tiara as he spoke. "You can't answer it  _ and _ do your magic thing at the same time, I get it."

“For your  _ information, _ ” Sofia started, poking at his chest ‘harshly.’ It didn’t really hurt. “We haven’t been  _ technically  _ dating where we still have a talk we’ve been putting off about everything, but all you need to know is that I love him very,  _ very  _ much and don’t appreciate your- Your  _ meddling  _ over here.”

"Oh, yeah,  _ trust me, _ " he said, rolling his eyes and pushing her hand away. "I already knew most of that." When he saw her frown, he smirked. "Did I forget to mention I can feel other people's emotions?"

“You-!” Sofia flushed, throwing her hands up before turning away and shoving herself against Cedric’s chest. Cedric, for his part, gave a startled before before gently patting her on the back. 

“If you think about it, this could be considered karma.” Steven shrugged, going back to leaning against the wall as he picked up a book. Might as well learn something new while he was here.

Although he did spare one more glance over at the two, watching Cedric whisper some soft, soothing words to Sofia as he hugged her properly. The two looked stupidly in love and hopefully they would actually have that ‘talk’ soon because  _ honestly. _ The rabbit hopped across the table, sniffing at him a bit before looking up at him. Steven smiled, gently stroking his fur. "Hey there, little guy."

The bunny leaned into the touch before looking over towards Sofia and Cedric, Sofia hugging and calling out a half-annoyed, “You hush, Clover.”

Steven set the book down, grinning down at Clover. "Would you be okay with me picking you up?" He held his hands out, waiting. Clover hopped into them after a moment and  _ he was so cute and soft. _ " _ Aw, _ " Steven cooed, holding him close, and he was probably the cutest thing ever and his fur was  _ so soft.  _

“I hope you know he’s not going to let you put him down, now,” Sofia said to him, looking a little better.

"Perfect, cause I don't think I can," he chuckled. He was so soft and relaxed, after all! Besides, Steven was sure no one would mind if he just settled down and showed a sweet, soft bunny some love for a while.

Judging by the position of the sun, Steven estimated it to be about an hour before they were bothered — and of course it was Sofia’s sister. “I don’t know why I try to look for you anywhere else, Sofia, I should just always start here.”

“I’m surprised you don’t,” Sofia hummed, peeking over Cedric’s shoulder at the bowl they were still using while also looking at a book. “We were trying to narrow down where Steven’s realm is.”

“I see,” she said, even though it seemed like she really didn’t. “And Clover’s letting him hold him?”

“I think Clover might be in a coma, at this point,” Sofia laughed, looking over at Steven. “Clover? You alright?” Steven looked down at the little bunny properly. His nose was twitching, so he was probably alright. “Yep. He’s definitely in a coma.”

Steven chuckled. “I’ve always kinda had a  _ way _ with animals. I have a companion Lion back home.”

“Lion? Is he an actual Lion, then, or just a really large cat?”

“No, yeah, he’s an actual lion. That’s just also his name.”

“He sounds sweet!”

“What color is he?” Amber asked curiously, and, right. Royalty. At least someone thought to actually ask, he supposed.

“Pink,” he told her, petting behind Clover’s ear. 

“The perfect color,” Amber said approvingly.

Steven nodded. “Yeah. It’s a family thing.”

☆

It was only another two days before Cedric contacted two other sorcerers who, apparently, would be helping in getting him home considering realm portals were considered extremely difficult magic. “Ah, Cedric,” one of them said, looking really… pleased. “I always knew you would finally admit that I was the better sorcerer.”

“Not even on pain of death, Aminx,” Cedric muttered, hands twitching as if he wanted to throw something - or maybe cast a spell. Cedric then grinned. “If you’d like, maybe I should just contact my sister and have  _ her  _ help-”

Steven watched Aminx’s face curl, and oh man, he  _ felt _ that disgust and hatred. “You  _ wouldn’t. _ ” Cedric seemed to only grin even more.

“Oh, I must certainly would.” Steven was honestly pretty sure some sort of magical fight was about to break out before the other sorcerer - Telthar if he remembered right? - came up and gently pat at Aminx’s chest, nudging him a few steps back.

“Cedric, stop tormenting him. You know how he is when it comes to your sister,” Telthar lectured, tugging on Aminx’s shirt until the other looked down at him. “And you. Play nice in front of Sofia’s guest.” And- Whoa. Yeah. Okay. Those two had to have been together for a  _ long  _ time because the fondness, warmth, and pure  _ love  _ coming off of Telthar was ridiculous. Jeez, and he thought Sofia and  _ Cedric _ were bad.

Steven waved at the two of them, giving a half-grin. “Hey there. My name’s Steven.” Like he had already expected, Aminx seemed to let it go at once, giving him a curious look over.

“Aye, the traveller from another realm. A delight to meet you!”

Huh. That was an accent. On instinct, Steven held his hand out to shake. Telthar was the one that took it with a roll of his eyes. “Telthar, and the idiot is Aminx.”

“You wound me,” Aminx pouted, and yep, yeah, okay, Aminx was even worse than Telthar. It was a horrible day to have empathy powers. Steven did his best to hide his wince, still grinning at the two of them.

“So, uh, you guys have a plan?” Before he could get an answer, Sofia was clearing her throat and talking loudly. 

“Yes! We do have a plan! Telthar, Aminx, Cedric will walk you through everything, and Steven, I need your help getting the supplies we need. This way. Far over here.”

His eyes widened a bit. “Oh- Yeah. Sure. Okay.” Sofia pulled him out the door and down towards the garden. Alright, then. 

It was a couple minutes of walking before Sofia looked back at him, “How bad were they? I can only imagine what  _ feeling  _ their emotions is like.”

“Oh man, imagine someone is literally  _ suffocating _ you with love,” he said with a groan, rubbing at his face. “I mean- That’s my  _ thing! _ I’m all about that, but  _ stars above! _ ”

“That bad, huh,” Sofia giggled, shaking her head. “Will it make you feel better or worse if I told you they’ve only been together or a couple of months?”

“Oh my  _ stars _ you’ve gotta be  _ kidding _ me! A couple  _ months?! _ ” Oh man, and he thought  _ he _ was bad!

“Mmyep! They grew up together, though, and there’s always been this  _ thing,  _ but Telthar never told Aminx for the longest time because he thought Aminx didn’t feel the same way.”

“They’re worse than the two of you!” Steven looked around the garden. “So, what do we need?” 

“Only a couple things, really, but I figured it was a good excuse to get you out of the tower for a bit.”

“Gee, thanks,” he told her with a smile. Glancing over to a few purple roses, Steven waited for her to be distracted before he picked a few, healed them, and tied them together. 

“Trust me, even  _ I  _ need to get away from those two sometimes. I’m not sure if it was worse when they weren’t together or not!” Sofia ranted, picking flowers at what looked like random but probably wasn’t. “I’m happy that they’re so happy, though. They deserve it.”

"Yeah, it sure sounds like it." Once she stood properly, Steven turned to her with a smile, holding out a flower crown made of the purple roses.

Sofia blinked, looking startled before she was  _ beaming.  _ “Steven! That’s so pretty! You know how to make flower crowns?”

"Yeah, sure I do. I've known how for a few years, now." He reached up, setting it down on her head. It covered up her 'real' tiara for the most part, but he had a feeling she was just fine with that. "And here," he said, handing a matching crown to her. "I made a match for Cedric."

“Aw!” Sofia hugged him in a flash, holding him close for a moment. “Thank you, Steven. This is so sweet.”

"Heh, yeah, well. That's Steven for you." He hugged her back, the two of them heading up to the tower.

As soon as they were up there Steven noticed that Aminx and Telthar were pouring over some books and exchanging quick words that sounded barely half-formed. They really had grown up together, huh? 

Sofia, on her part, near bounced over to Cedric before putting the flower crown on him with a smile, “Steven made them. Now we match!” Aminx cooed, patting at Cedric’s head.

“Well lookit that.  _ You match. _ ”

Cedric once again seemed ready to explode before he smirked at Aminx, “Oh? And shall I inform everyone here of just what’s around that chain you wear-”

“If it’s something sappy,” Steven interrupted. “Please don’t.”

“Really?” Cedric blinked at him, seeming to see something before he was humming. “Right. I’ll just inform Telthar once you leave, then.”

“What? Inform me about what?”

“Oh, nothing you need worry over, little prince. So it is true, then.” Now this ‘Aminx’ character was looking at Steven. “Realm traveller, and extraterrestrial hybrid!”

Steven’s face fell. “What.”

“Cedric was catching us up-to-date on your extraordinary tale! I have to say, I have yet to run into someone as interesting as you!” Okay. At least he said someone instead of something. “Your race carries gems with magical properties within them, truly?”

“My… mom’s species, yeah.” Well, unless he was  _ really _ good at hiding his emotions — which Steven really doubted — he didn’t have any bad intentions, at least.

“Fascinating! May I see?” Okay. Weird as heck, but, again, he didn’t seem exactly nefarious or up to anything. Hesitantly, Steven lifted his shirt to show his gem, and of course, like some cartoon or something, it  _ glinted _ in the light. “Incredible! I wonder what conditions would be required for something to form like this - born? So much to learn!”

Telthar was saying something about Aminx behaving himself, but Steven barely noticed because  _ his gem was being  _ **_touched-_ ** A bubble formed, trapping Aminx’s hand, and Steven stared down at him. “Don’t touch.”

Aminx blinked up at him, Steven ready to bubble him and throw him out the window before Aminx backed away and held up his hands, “My apologies. I seemed to have overstepped onto a rather sensitive matter.” Steven didn’t feel like he could breathe properly until Aminx took another step or two away. Stars above. He needed to get over that. It was three years ago.  _ No no, it’s okay for it to hurt. It was something bad, and it really hurt me. It’s okay to not be okay with it. _

It took a few moments for him to start to get control of himself, finally noticing Sofia standing in front of him, asking a soft, “Do you want me to help you back to your room or do you want to stay here?”

“I’ll be fine,” he told her. “So… Which one  _ is _ my realm, anyway?”

“The Quantum Realm,” Cedric supplied, adjusting his flower crown neatly on his head. “Which is a realm I can say I’ve never heard of before.”

“The  _ Quantum _ Realm! Aye, I’ve heard tale o’ that realm. Bit of a curmudgeon, if I recall.”

Telthar gave a huff of a laugh, shaking his head. “You’ve heard ‘tale’ of everything- Oh! Steven, feel free to keep this idiot’s hand trapped for as long as you like, but please remove it once we leave.” Steven waved a hand, dismissing the bubble.

“What in the name of the stars is a  _ curmudgeon. _ ” Why was everyone in this realm so  _ weird. _

“Ignore him. He’s an idiot,” Cedric waved off. “Actually, feel free to pretend he isn’t even there - but! Now that we know what realm you’re from and we have, regrettably, two extra wizards, we know exactly how to send you back! Mostly!”

“Oh, yeah, great, mostly! That really inspires confidence,” he said with a roll of his eyes- Wait. Hang on. Beeping. His phone? No. Not his phone. The… mirror? Steven pulled the mirror from his pocket, his face falling. “Oh no.”

The Diamonds. The  _ Diamonds  _ were calling him.  _ Shit _ . Could he just ignore the call? Maybe he could just ignore the call. Fuck, no, he couldn’t ignore it. They would just call again and again and then when he still didn’t answer they would call the gems and the gems would tell them he was in another  _ realm _ and they would  _ find _ a way to bust through- Sofia’s hand on his shoulder startled him, and he looked over to her. “It’s my aunts.”

“Would it be better to answer it now or later?” Sofia asked, and, alright, good question. Now would probably be better because he could just… get it over with.

“Just… gimme a minute.” He took a few steps away, sighing down at the magic mirror. “Accept.” Just please don’t notice the prince get-up, please don’t notice the prince get-up,  _ please don’t notice the prince get-up. _ The ‘call’ connected at once, Steven seeing all three of the Diamonds before Blue was  _ cooing.  _

_ “Oh, Steven, you look so precious!” _ Steven groaned, putting a hand over his face and shutting his eyes. Stars strike him down now. “ _ Oh! We’re calling because we heard you had some troubles with some realm travel?” _

“Wha- Is  _ that _ why you called?! Who told you?! Oh, I’ll bet it was  _ Pearl, _ wasn’t it?” Oh, he was  _ so _ getting back at her for this later.

“ _ There’s so many Pearls who can tell the difference,”  _ Yellow waved off and  _ Pearl that traitor. _ “ _ A prince, hm?” _

Steven shot and even look at her. “ _ Yes, _ Yellow?”

“ _ Just wondering how it felt to be living as you properly should have been. _ ”

“Terrible. I hate it. I’m literally only wearing this garbage because this is what my normal clothes turned into and when I go home, I want my normal clothes.”

_ “Really? You’re not even enjoying it a little?” _ No! That was the point! Not at all! Okay, the room was kinda nice, with a pretty cool balcony… And those gardens had been really gorgeous…

Steven puffed himself up, “That has  _ nothing _ to do with  _ anything at all! _ ”

_ “Part of why we called is that we really did want to make sure you were alright, _ ” White said softly, giving him a smile.  _ “How are you doing?” _

“I’m  _ fine, _ White. Seriously. This was just… an unexpected stop, is all.” He had the thought to mention his dream from a few days ago, but… “It’s fine.”

_ “If you’re sure. Let us know when you manage to get home, though. _ ”

He waved them off with a sigh. “Yeah, sure, I mean, probably.”

_ “Steven.”  _ At least two of them were frowning and ‘scolding’ him, but it wasn’t a very terrifying sight.

All Steven could really do was roll his eyes at them. “Later.” After hanging up, Steven shoved his mirror away and, right. He could just blame that on his whole phone being a mirror thing. With another sigh, he took a few steps back towards the others. “So, do we have an ETA?”

“Either today or tomorrow,” Cedric said, giving him a smile. “It depends on how well we can get everything set up.”

“And I guess there’s not really a good way for me to help?”

Cedric seemed to think about it before giving a shake of his head, “Not until we’re ready to have you leave - then you’ll be the focal point of the spell.”

“Right.” Ugh, he  _ hated _ being useless! There had to be  _ something _ else he could do, right?

“If you want, you could help Amber decorate the ballroom for a party she’s throwing soon,” Sofia suggested. “She’d probably love your help.”

Steven made a face. “Yeah… I don’t really wanna be in a room alone with her.”

“Completely understandable,” Cedric chimed in, starting to gather a whole array of things.

“Oh jeez,” Telthar sighed. “What’d she do this time?”

“She’s just being Amber,” Sofia told him.

“That’s worse than anything she could have done,” Telthar snorted. “You could always explore the area? This might be your only chance to see another realm, after all.”

Oh yeah… He supposed he probably wasn’t very likely to stumble upon a portal to this realm again. Huh. That was… kinda disappointing. He liked Sofia and Cedric. He’d had a feeling he and Sofia could be really good friends.

“It might not be his only chance to talk to us, however,” Cedric said, as if that wasn’t a huge deal. “After all, your friends have called you from your universe to ours, right?”

Steven blinked in surprise, taking the magic mirror back out again. “I- Yeah? I guess so?”

“Then all it takes is finding the right spell for you to be able to call us.” It was… that easy? “Although it might take a few attempts, it should work.”

Pausing, Steven looked around, and, well… Hm. Seeing a knife — looked like skinning, maybe? Or carving? — he picked it up and used it to chop a lock of his hair off. “There. Should make it easier to find me.”

Cedric blinked, looking startled before taking the hair and giving a grin, “Actually, this is perfect! Blood works best, of course, but I think I’d rather deal with hair if you don’t mind.”

Steven grinned. “Cool.” Hey, he was getting the hang of magic stuff! 

“You know, if you want you can look at the other magical books,” Cedric suggested. “Maybe try things out once you’re back in your realm and see if they work?”

“Hm… You know, we use science. Y’know. Cause no magic? So I’ll bet if I put Peridot and Pearl on a project to try to open a wormhole to another dimension — another  _ realm _ — then…” Yeah… Yeah, that could work.

“Science?” Sofia  _ perked  _ up. “Now  _ that  _ I can help with! Royals and Sorcerers may be all about magic, but us villagers grew up with  _ science. _ C’mon, I know the  _ perfect  _ books that will help!”

Steven and Sofia tore through the books until Cedric’s raven was flying down beside them- “Oh, wow, already?”

“Guess it’s time, huh?” Wormwood cawed at them, Sofia giving a soft giggle before standing up and closing the book she was reading.

“Well. Ready to go home?”

“No. But back to my dimension? Yeah.” Steven smiled at her, standing as well.

Sofia gave a quiet laugh, grabbing Steven’s hand and giving them a light squeeze. “When we manage to contact you feel free to call us back at any time, okay? Especially if you think it would bother us. You  _ have  _ to call then.”

He squeezed her hand back, grinning. “I will. And hey, you feel free to call me, too, yeah? You go through just as much crazy stuff, after all.”

“I’ll be sure to keep it in mind,” Sofia smiled and then started pulling him along. “Now come on. You have a trip to get back to, right?”

“Heh. Yeah. Guess so.” He nudged her. “Okay, but my realm doesn’t have magic. So if you find a way to visit, definitely bring Cedric.”

Sofia nodded seriously with a quiet, “I promise. He could use a break from worrying about magic anyways.”

Steven laughed, the two of them making their way back up the tower. “Hey. Thanks. For everything.” 

“Of course. It really was great to have you visit here, Steven, and it would be great if we figure out a way to visit each other again - this time on purpose.”

“Heh, yeah. Totally.”

Sofia paused in the hall, making Steven turn towards her. She took a ring off her finger before taking his hand and pressing the small trinket into his palm. "To remember us, when you really need to."

Steven's eyes widened. "Sofia, I can't-"

"You can and will. Don't worry, it's not important. Amber gave it to me a few days ago, I've just been wearing it to be nice," she giggled, curling his fingers around the ring.

Staring at her, he finally grinned, pulling her until a tight hug. "I won't forget you."

"I know. It's also something from this realm. In case you find a way back."

He almost wanted to stay.

When they got to the top of the tower, Steven grinned at them. “So?”

“So we’ve - safely - found a way to return you to your realm,” Cedric said, throwing a glare at Aminx. “I’d rather you not take the chance of  _ dying  _ while getting back to your own realm.”

“Wow, what a coincidence! I’d also rather not take that chance!” Steven snorted, putting his hands on his hips. “So. What do I need to do?” 

“Stand in the circle, close your eyes, and think about when and where it was you left,” Cedric instructed, pulling Steven over to an intricate group of circles and runes. “Even if you don’t think about where you were exactly it will still put you back in the right realm at the right time, but maybe not the exact location.” Okay. He should probably take into account that time had passed. Only a few days, but he remembered where his car was! That was good enough, right?

Steven stood in the circle, taking a breath and closing his eyes. He heard the others moving around, heard the muttering something he couldn’t quite understand, and then felt something  _ shift.  _ The best he could equate it to was Blue’s empathy powers at her worst but without all of the crying and sadness. It felt like it wrapped around and through him, like it permeated every part of his being and became part of him.  _ Woah, okay Steven. Leave the dramatic poetry to Lapis, _ he thought to himself.

The thought had him smiling before he was focusing again on where he had last been, hoping that his car and his things were alright after a while of being abandoned. Feeling that weird feeling in the air finally start to settle and lift from around him, Steven cracked open his eyes to ask if it had worked. But… He was on the road, in the middle of that forest he'd been hiking in. And amazingly, his car was still there.

Looking down at himself, Steven smiled at seeing his regular clothes. It had been a little cool to be a prince, he supposed.  _ Had been. I still am. _ Opening his hand, he smiled at seeing the ring still there, unchanged. That was nice. Maybe he  _ would _ find a way to visit. Patting himself down, he pulled out his phone. Yep. A few days after he left.

Staring at the screen, he finally unlocked his phone, dialing Pearl's number. When she answered, he didn't let her get a word in before- "You told the  _ Diamonds?! _ " 

_ “Oh, Steven! You must be back!”  _ Distracting him wasn’t going to work!  _ “And of course not, Steven. I told the other Pearls. _ ”

Steven groaned, getting back into his car. "That's not any better!" But still… It was good to be back.


End file.
